NaNoWriMo

Tonight at midnight is the witching hour…I don’t mean just Halloween.  Rather, the beginning of the month of writing 50,000 words towards a novel.  This marathon is called National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short, or Nano for even shorter.

This will be my first attempt at this.  I’m a little excited, and a little apprehensive.  First, I really am not sure what I’m going to write.  I have an idea for a murder mystery novel, but thinking of just working on some Flash Fiction stories to get my feet wet.  I can always wait until next year to try for the 50,000 word goal…right?  I’m apprehensive, because I have some fears about writing.

I think my most major fear is being judged.  Not only other people judging me, but my self-editor that wants to strive for perfection.  Also, that I will just end up staring at a blank screen, and not being able to come up with anything.

Luckily, I have joined a group of local fellow Nano writers.  I really am hoping to be accepted, and to help support others.  I wasn’t feeling well on the night of the kick off party.  But, there is some write-ins planned including online write-ins.  I’m looking forward to participating!

Another useful thing is that there are professional writers including my favorite, James Patterson who will be writing letters of encouragement.  I just received the letter from James Patterson, and it was cool to have the support of an author that I’ve actually read!  The letter was helpful, and humorous, and I think I’ll read it so often to keep running the race. 

Wish me luck!  As I also wish other fellow Nano writers luck in this project!

The First Music Video from Space!

Here is Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield singing Space Oddity on board the International Space Station (ISS).  

(Compare to David Bowie’s version)

(More about Chris Hadfield) 

Journaling Class Started Today

I signed up for a journaling class through Ed2Go–online self improvement classes available through the library.  I hope to use some of the techniques that I am learning in the class on here.  The next class that I will take is the WordPress class. 

Lesson one of the journaling class consisted of five chapters, supplementary material, quiz, and assignment.  The first chapter was an introduction about the course and instructor.

Chapter two answers what journaling is by saying that it is a record of internal life written consistently over a period of time, but not necessarily day-by-day versus a diary that is defined as a catalog of outward focused entries. (Lois Guarino in Writing Your Authentic Self).

Chapter three discusses the benefits of journaling.  The three main benefits are self-discovery, stress reduction and easier decision making, and a list of many more benefits including health.  Dr James Pennebaker, professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, conducted experiments and discovered that writing about stressful experiences reduces physical symptoms in patients with chronic illnesses (published in the Journal of the American Medical Association).

Chapter four gives two short biographies on Anne Frank and C.S. Lewis.  I haven’t looked at their websites, yet.

Chapter five is a summary.

The supplementary material included a total of four links: Anne Frank, C.S. Lewis, Introduction to Journaling, and another Journaling website.

The assignment is to identify three people you know who journal now or used to journal in the past.  Ask each journaler these questions:

1.       What led you to begin journaling?

2.       How often did you journal?

3.       What tools or techniques helped you to journal?

4.       What benefits did you receive from journaling?

Based on your interviews and the list of journaling benefits cited in lesson one, select three benefits that most resonate with your current needs and life circumstances.  Then, for each benefit you select, set a goal that you would like journaling to help you achieve.  Create goals that are SMART by making them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-centered.

I’m not going to share the interviews as they might be too personal.  The three benefits that most resonate with me are to find my writing voice, express and create, and stimulate personal growth.  I’ll expand on this later.

Illustrations for Inferno by Dan Brown

I just found out that Dan Brown is coming out with a new Robert Langdon novel called Inferno.  I can’t wait to get this book from the library.

Here is the link to the website that has companion illustrations for his new novel.

True Colors

Here is the video of Michelle Chamuel singing True Colors.  I really liked that she said that she represents nerdy people.  Too cool!

Thoughts…

Today, I’ve been in the mood to listen to classical music.  I downloaded three pieces from the freegal website through the library.  Then, I realized that I could probably listen to them on Pandora or Youtube.  Lately, I’ve been using my limit of songs to make cds for a friend–she’s really been enjoying them!  So, it was a treat to download some songs that I wanted to hear.

I didn’t really have a plan for today except for tonight.  The Voice and Hawaii Five-0 come on starting at 8pm.  This season I’ve been getting more interested in The Voice especially since Shakira is one of the coaches.  

Although, Usher seems to be the coach to have since he has inventive ways of coaching.  I really enjoyed Michelle Chamuel’s performance of True Colors.  Usher told her to sing the song to herself in a mirror, and it resulted in a really awesome performance!

 

 

Mother’s Day

My plan for today was to go shopping.  I picked up some roses and a bottle of wine for my Mom for Mother’s Day.  We’re going to have a Joe’s Crab Shack salmon dinner.  Also, we’ll go to Starbucks for Frappacinos. 

The rest of the day, I’m not sure what to do.  My options are to work on the new afghan, read, or get caught up with shows.  Thinking of shows, I can’t wait until the two hour season finale of Revenge to air tomorrow night! 

Someone on the show will die by the end of the episode according to TV Guide.com.  I still miss ‘fauxmanda’ as Nolan called her.  I’m sure that tomorrow’s episode will be an exciting event! 

Happy Mother’s Day

My parents had this record when I was a kid. The chocolate cake routine was funny, but I have always liked the giving birth routine better.

Zigzag Afghan

It took me aproximately two years to crochet this afghan for my niece.  It probably took so long, because it is single crochet, and I didn’t work on it daily.

I used Vanna’s Choice yarns: 3 rows each of Burgundy, Antique Rose and Pink.

It fits the top of a twin sized bed.  I chained multiples of 17 until it was the required width.

The pattern is from Columbia-Minerva below:

1 “Boye” Aluminum Crochet Hook “I” (Size 8)

Gauge: 3 1/2 S.C. to 1 inch

Pattern Stitch: (Multiple of 17 Ch. plus 16 Ch.)

Row 1–1 S.C. in 2nd Ch from hook, 1 S.C. in each of next 6 Ch, *3 S.C. in next Ch, 1 S.C. in 220each of 7 Ch, skip 2 Ch, 1 S.C. in each of next 7 Ch, repeat from * across, Ch 1, turn.

Row 2–Skip 1 St., *1 S.C. in back loop of each of 7 Sts., 3 S.C. in back loop of next St., 1 S.C. in back loop of next 7 Sts., skip 2 Sts., repeat from * across, ending 1 S.C. in back loop of each of 7 Sts. (omitting last St.), Ch 1, turn. Repeat Row 2 for Pattern St.

Afghan: With Color 1 Ch . Work in Pattern St., working Stripes as follows: (Always draw new Color through last loop on hook)

Hello World!

 

This is my new blog about things that I can accomplish in my own room.  This blog title is from Virginia Wolf’s book, A Room of One’s Own.  I read the book back in high school, and should probably read it again.  The premise is that if Shakespeare had a sister with the same opportunities that he had she would have been able to create great works as well.

For centuries women have been denied an education and left in the kitchen.  Even in our modern world, women are still denied opportunities in some countries.  This reminds me of the girl in Pakistan that was shot in the head after voicing her belief that girls should be given an education.  Luckily, she survived and has recently started a program to raise funds to send girls to school.

Now, I have a room of my own where I can follow my interests like crafts, reading and watching shows.  I also want to learn the craft of mystery writing, and how to blog.  The other cool thing is that there’s a library within walking distance of my room.  I have been checking out books and DVDs that interest me.  More on this later…